BLUAC gives thumbs up to zone change request

The Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee voted unanimously to recommend approval for a zone change application for 55 acres on River Bend Road bordering the Swan River, from SAG-5 to SAG-20, which board members called a positive move.

The zone change would cover two properties owned by the applicants, Robert Bielenberg, Claudia Bielenberg-Thorsrud and Lloyd Thorsrud.

Flathead County Planner Andrew Hagemeier said the zone change would be in the opposite direction sought by most applications that come through the planning office.

"The applicants didn't feel that a 5-acre density was appropriate because of the shallow groundwater," Hagemeier said. "They wanted to change that designation to something that is more restrictive.

"Of course, we look at whether it would comply with the 12 statutory criteria for zone changes, and you can pretty much go down the list and say 'Yes' to all of them. We also used the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan to support it. The use of the land is agriculture, and this would keep that use on into the future, which is what Claudia's objective is."

In the absence of sewer, the owners were required to install a septic system on the property. However, Bielenberg-Thorsrud explained that on the 20 acre parcel chosen by her and her husband, there is no place that would be suitable for a drainfield.

Although her husband is a developer and they initially thought that subdividing and developing the property would have made a nice retirement project, they soon realized that the land would not support such a use.

"It would be almost impossible to do with this piece of property," she said. "It just doesn't make sense. There might be one other building site on the whole piece of land, but basically our whole 20 acres is completely unusable.

"It probably was not zoned correctly in the first place. I doubt there was ever any real investigation to see whether it was appropriate."

BLUAC member-at-large Al Johnson said he lives down river from the Thorsruds' property and noted that the quality of the water has been greatly degraded in recent year. He and BLUAC chairperson Shelly Gonzales commended the Thorsruds for taking steps to prevent further degradation of the river.

"We want to commend the owners for their desire to protect the health of the river by not attempting to expand any further," Gonzales said.